Chapter 64: On the Self-Control Ability (Patreon)

"Lady Pandora... wha—what's wrong...?"

Just then, Louliana noticed something was off about Pandora too.

Pandora let out a sigh. "It's nothing. I just read some vulgar nonsense that soured my mood, that's all."

As she spoke, she tore the paper in her hands to shreds and buried it beneath the snow. That way, it wouldn't be long before the thing vanished completely, swallowed by the lonely, burying snow.

Seeing this, Louliana understood that Pandora didn't want her to know what was written on the paper, and said nothing more.

"Louliana." Straightening up, Pandora dusted off her hands and looked at Louliana. "Can you tell me where the place you used to live is?"

She'd been wrestling with what to do next, but now it was clear to her — she didn't need to make the first move herself. As long as her actions were bold enough, big enough to 'turn heaven and earth upside down,' then not just the clergy but even the spirit beast would come seeking her out on their own. And that would be the moment to change this nation's fate.

So... this was the first move — the first piece she'd set down on the board.

And all of it — the method, the conclusion — had come from nothing more than saving one girl.

"Huh?" At her words, Louliana looked puzzled, then, as though remembering something, waved her hands hastily. "Lady Pandora, there's no need for that. Now that you're my new master, that person and I have nothing to do with each other anymore..."

"Well, I think there is a need. So tell me."

"Lady Pandora..."

[Why does Lady Pandora... feel so overbearing...]

After pledging herself to Pandora as her new master, Louliana had been thoroughly 'captivated.'

Every gesture Pandora made looked elegant and beautiful to her eyes; every word out of her mouth sounded utterly exquisite to her ears.

She could have sworn it: Pandora was, without question, the single most perfect person she had ever met!

"Louliana..." Pandora studied the flush spreading over Louliana's dazed face, a little baffled. "What's wrong?"

The girl had just gone glassy-eyed staring at her out of nowhere — could some 'Divine Protection' have kicked in again?

No, no, no, she shouldn't think that way. She, Pandora, wasn't the narcissistic type... well, fine, she'd admit she was rather fond of herself too.

"N-nothing..."

Snapping back to herself, Louliana blurted this out while bowing hastily at the waist.

Watching this, all Pandora could do was sigh inwardly: sure enough, a real Louliana...

Then she unfolded the map she'd been holding all along and stroked her chin, musing for a moment. "Let's set out, then. You lead the way up front — with my help, we can set every risk on the road aside."

"?!" Hearing this, Louliana's face lit up with open shock, which left Pandora rather puzzled.

"Is there something else?"

So easily startled, so adorably dim-witted... no good, she'd better hurry up and recite 'Beatrice, equivalent substitution' a few times in her head—

"It's nothing." Louliana shook her head and glanced at the howling 'snow-wind' swirling around them.

It wasn't an illusion — she genuinely felt no cold at all. Instead, it felt as pleasant as standing in a gentle summer breeze down south.

So this was Lady Pandora's Authority at work? It seemed Lady Pandora wasn't only... but also...

"Ow..." Just as she stood there dazed, watching the snow-wind, a faint sting shot through her head. "Lady Pandora, you..."

Pandora withdrew her hand from atop the girl's head and sighed. "Honestly, if it weren't me standing beside you — if it weren't me who'd saved you — chances are you'd have been kidnapped by now..."

She paused.

"Louliana, how old are you?" she then suddenly asked.

Louliana's face flushed. "I think... I'm fourteen..."

[What kind of answer is 'I think'?! You don't even remember your own age?!]

As for herself, well, she was already... a hundred... hundred-something... in any case, well over three hundred!

"Well, since you're still just a child, it's only natural you'd be like this."

In the end, Pandora simply waved a hand and dropped the subject.

"So the route, do you—"

[Author's Note: Please give some flowers!]

She trailed off there, stopping herself mid-sentence.

—In conditions like these, remembering the way would honestly be the strange thing.

Sure enough, Louliana shook her head. "I'm sorry, Lady Pandora, this..."

Well, fair enough — that was true. Still, it was a shame all her earlier enthusiasm had gone to waste.

But just as Pandora was weighing her next move, Louliana added, "Still, I do know that person is the lord of Konashu Sacred Land."

[A Sacred Land, huh... Going by the theory that the Holy Kingdom isn't holy at all, a Sacred Land probably isn't sacred either...]

At that, Pandora let out a small sigh of admiration and unfolded the map in her hands once more.

She'd entered the Holy Kingdom at the Viscounty of Mijier. If the snowstorm hadn't thrown off her bearings, then judging by her current position, Konashu Territory should lie off to the left.

...

Of course, that direction also happened to lead toward Spirit Beast Mountain... Talk about too neat a coincidence to be mere chance!

Still, there was no need for her to go hunting down the spirit beast herself now — she could just stick to the plan.

With that, Pandora handed the map to a thoroughly bewildered Louliana and gave a small wave. "This is basically everything we own, so take good care of it."

"...?"

"What? Is that strange?"

"N-no, it's not..."

"Don't worry. With me around, you won't be meeting any angels even if you go without food or water."

"Lady Pandora... you're... you're amazing..."

It gave Pandora the distinct feeling she'd just picked up a little fangirl.

If only Beatrice were even half this forthcoming... ahem, ahem...

"Alright, let's get going."

If this journey went well, it would prove that she — the Witch of Vainglory, Pandora — was slacking off no more! (Though, now that she thought about it, she supposedly hadn't really been slacking off in the first place...)

Louliana nodded. "Yes, Lady Pandora."

With that, the two of them finally set off on their journey, leaving behind only a lantern worth twenty Holy Ras — its warmth long spent — to keep the frost-bound pillar company.

[Author's Note: Daily plea for flowers! Votes! Reads! (≧◇≦)/]